


i'm a lightweight (easy to fall, easy to break)

by orphan_account



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Soriku Week, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-18
Updated: 2014-08-18
Packaged: 2018-02-11 20:01:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2081289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p></p><blockquote>
  <p><br/><strong>[Divine Stone of Returning Souls]</strong><br/>The item can be activated on the player's shortcut menu or by holding the materialized item and uttering «Revive ... [Player's Name]». The effect will only work during the time frame between the death of the player and the disappearance of item's effect light, which is approximately ten seconds.</p>
</blockquote><br/>How long has it been now? Riku didn't know. He didn't stop to think about it.
            </blockquote>





	i'm a lightweight (easy to fall, easy to break)

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for [teraqua](http://teraqua.tumblr.com/)'s [soriku week](http://teraqua.tumblr.com/post/93654762619/soriku-week-is-going-to-be-from-august-17-23-the). Formatting is annoying.

No. _No. **No.**_

This wasn't supposed to happen. It wasn't supposed to end like this. This was supposed to be a typical run. They were supposed to defeat all the monsters, collect the loot, and return to their homey cabin by the beach.

He and Sora were going to get married after they collected enough munny for the wedding rings. They were going to settle down and live together, leaving the fighting to the guilds like Organization XIII and Symphony of Sorcery. Riku didn't need to go back to the real world _if he had Sora by his side_.

But all his hopes and dreams were slipping through his fingers. Because Sora was dying.

Riku didn't notice at first, thinking Sora's health bar was as steady a green as ever. He didn't see the bar drop bit by bit, first into a worrying yellow, then into an alarming red. He must have been bitten by a poisonous monster. Sora was usually so good at using healing stones. Riku didn't think Sora would need much help or protection aside from the occasional double-teaming from the monsters.

Then Sora took an extra hit, and Riku heard it.

The staticky noise that Riku often heard during the fights at the frontier. The sound that everyone dreads hearing since they were trapped in this game a year and a half ago. The sound of someone dying.

Keyblade Hero Online wasn't your run-of-the-mill virtual reality MMORPG. There was no log out option, leaving players trapped in KHO. And through some horrific design by DiZ Inc., anyone who died in game would die in the real world.

Riku's keyblade slashed through the last enemy. His arms fell down with an invisible weight, dropping the keyblade onto the ground. The only sounds he could hear were his own harsh breathing and the pained noises coming from Sora. And now Sora--

He was--

Sora was **dying**.

Riku abandoned his weapon, not caring if another monster spawned, and ran to Sora's body on the ground behind him. When Riku knelt down and pulled Sora onto his lap, Sora smiled weakly. Riku grasped onto Sora's hands tightly and urgently said, "Sora. Look at me, Sora. Please."

"Ri-- _kuh_ \--ku." Sora coughed. "You d--did it. _Hngh_. I knew you w--would save me." His health bar had barely any red left in it, but the poison status was still there.

"No, Sora. Don't say anything." Riku breathed, pulling Sora's hands to his lips. "Please. Where did you put the antidote crystals?" He moved one of his hands, searching through Sora's pockets. Sora was usually the one to carry any crystal for them, because Riku never thought he himself would need any.

"Didn't-- _ugh_ \--bring any. Sorry, Riku. Th--thought I was strong en--enough to stay by your si--de." His eyelids were slowly drooping down, as if he was too tired and wanted to rest. Parts of his body were already turning into red pixels.

"You are! You are strong enough and brave enough and loving enough to stay with me. Sora, you have to stay with me." Riku begged. He ignored the burning in his eyes.

With an apologetic look on his face, Sora whispered, "Not this time, Riku. I--I'm sorry." "No, Sora. No. Stop." Sora's eyes closed. Riku's vision was blurring.

"Stop it, Sora. Open your eyes. Look at me."

Sora's legs were disappearing.

"Please, Sora."

The only one who ever mattered to Riku, his only light in this wretched life, is going to disappear into tiny pixels before disintegrating, and _Riku could do nothing to stop it._

The weight was slowly disappearing, as if someone was lifting it. Riku tried to hold on to Sora, hugging him as close to his body as possible, but more and more of Sora was gone. The tears slipped from his eyes.

"N--no." Riku said, but no sound came out. Soon, he held nothing in his arms.

"No. No. Sora. No." Riku repeated. "This can't be happening." Riku curled up. "This must be a dream. This isn't real." He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to hide his face in his lap. His sobs were loud in his ears, but he wished it were louder so it could drown out the silence of Sora's absence.

Suddenly, there was a _ping_. It was the sound of a window opening. Riku ignored it. There were beeps, as if someone was going through the options. Then there was one last beep, and nothing else happened. For a second, Riku ignored it. But maybe it was a message from His Majesty's Guild.  Maybe he would be going on a mission that could potentially kill him.

Riku looked up. It wasn't a message. It was Riku's inventory. It was opened on an item that Riku usually ignored, because the item was useless to him since it couldn't be used on himself. It was a one-use item from a special event before he met Sora. But once Riku read the item's name, his eyes widened. He sat up quickly and scrolled down the item description.

> **[Divine Stone of Returning Souls]**
> 
> The item can be activated on the player's shortcut menu or by holding the materialized item and uttering «Revive ... [Player's Name]». The effect will only work during the time frame between the death of the player and the disappearance of item's effect light, which is approximately ten seconds.

How long has it been now? Riku didn't know. He didn't stop to think about it. He tapped on the screen, and the stone appeared in front of him. Riku immediately grabbed it from midair and opened his mouth.

"Revive Sora."

There was a bright flash, and Riku flinched from the light. The crystal disappeared from his hands, and his hands grasped at empty air. The light slowly faded.

Riku opened his eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> Does this count as temporary character death if the readers never actually see Sora come back to life?


End file.
